laptop not recognizing my headphones

This is a discussion on laptop not recognizing my headphones within the Laptop Support forums, part of the Tech Support Forum category. hello. my first post here..
i just got my new acer aspire 7735ZG, but it does not recognize my headset

i just got my new acer aspire 7735ZG, but it does not recognize my headset when i connect it, and keeps on playing from the speakers. when i go to audio devices it only shows the realtek HDMI output, the speakers, and the realtek digital output under playback. when i pull the headset inn and out the "line in" symbol under recording turns on and of. in device manager it says that all my drivers are working properly. when i configure speakers in audio devices form stereo to 5.1 surround i get sound in my headset, but it is very uneven and "far away". i have tried different headsets, with the same results. i also tried windows update, to see if it would find any missing drives or updates, but it didn't.